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Friday, July 26, 2013

The Season 10 winner says his famed
audition of "Your Man" nearly didn't happen. Also: Did the country
crooner actually sing Lady Gaga?

Ray Mickshaw / FOX

Three years ago, a country teenager from North Carolina walked into an American Idol audition and wound up winning the whole thing. That teenager was Season 10 alum Scotty McCreery.

our editor recommends Over the weekend, the deep-voiced Idol got wistful about that day on Twitter and decided to share some “inside scoop” with fans.

The biggest revelation? McCreery’s signature song, “Your Man,” by Josh Turner, nearly wasn’t cleared in time for the then 17-year-old’s big moment in front of judges Steven Tyler, Randy Jackson and JenniferLopez. To hear McCreery tell it, it was a nail-biter to the end.

“Fun Fact: For the Idol auditions you have to sing a song
that is cleared by the show for rights and stuff. Your Man wasn’t
cleared my audition day,” he wrote on the micro-blogging site. “If you
sang a song that wasn’t cleared they wouldn’t put your audition on tv,
which makes it tough on ur chances of making the show. I told the
producer’s I didn’t care, and I was singing 'Your Man'. Miraculously,
about 15 mins b4 my audition they told me they got it cleared! If that
had not happened, we would’ve never got to hear Stevens crazy line, and
who knows if I’d be here today!”

McCreery also said the producer he met at the first stages of auditions told him, “This isn’t Nashville Star" and asked him to sing a different song, not country. McCreery’s choice? “The Way You Look Tonight” by Frank Sinatra. “Imagine that in my country voice, haha,” he tweeted. He then did a quick take on “In Color” by JameyJohnson before
he was awarded his first arena golden ticket and a homework assignment
to learn a pop song. His choice? “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room,” by John Mayer.
After performing that in the second round of non-filmed auditions, the producers threw the Idol hopeful a curveball: “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga.
McCreery said he gave it a go with the rah-rah intros, but stopped
midway and “told them “this aint on my country station back home, I
don’t know this.” He added that the producers “busted out laughing and said they just wanted to hear a country boy sing Lady Gaga, lol.“ McCreery said he holds no hard feelings, since they did sent him through to round three. “Love all those producers 2, they're cool!” he wrote.Twitter: @MicheleAmabile, @Idol_Worship